HARDWARE: Home Sweet Home
by hthrun
Summary: Hardware and Storm fly to Africa to visit friends and family... until their plans are interrupted...


HARDWARE 20: Home Sweet Home (by Henry Thrun)

My family tries to fly to Kenya at least once a year to visit my mom's family back home. Now that I'm in college, the summer break is the best time for us to go. Mom, Dad, Sam, and I all went for a few weeks. Adam hasn't gone over since he started college, much to my mother's disappointment.  
I was bringing a guest this time, Ororo Munroe aka Storm. Like me, her mother was from Africa and her dad was from the US. We became really good friends when I first visited the Xavier Institute due to having this in common. We actually even dated a bit here and there but decided it wouldn't work out. I wanted to keep living a normal life back in Minnesota. While several X-Men have more or less shunned me because of that decision, Ororo has remained one of my best friends of the team. We stay in touch constantly through e-mail.  
We had something else in common, too. We both hated flying! I woke up from a nap and started feeling dizzy. "How are you doing?" I asked Ororo, who was nearly passed out.  
"As well as can be. Why do they make planes so small?" Ororo has is severely claustrophobic and was taking some rather powerful pills the doctor prescribed to her. "How about you?"  
"I'm starting to feel dizzy again. I'll be fine after I take some more pills." I signaled the flight attendant. "More water, please."  
"I'll be right back," she replied. "You two are going to tap us dry," she joked as she returned with some water for me."  
"Ha ha, hopefully this dose will be enough to last me the rest of the way."  
"Your friend looks like she should be fine." I looked over and Ororo was fast asleep.  
"I should try some of what she's having," I joked. "Thanks for the water."  
"No problem," she replied as she turned to leave.

The rest of the flight was rather peaceful. Mom and Dad were just relaxing, Sam was playing video games and watching movies, and while I wasn't napping I was working on some new Hardware designs on my laptop. Ororo slept the rest of the flight, out like a light.

We later arrived in Nairobi and everyone started getting up off the plane. "Ororo, we're here," I said into her ear. She just slept some more. "Ororo, up and at 'em!" I said as I gently shook her shoulder.  
"What's wrong?" asked my dad as most everyone around us had already left.  
"She's not waking up," I replied.  
"This can't be right," said my mom, who happens to be a pharmacist. "She hasn't taken any pills for a while. We better get someone to look at her."  
The flight attendant came back to check on us. "Is everything ok?"  
"She's not waking up," my dad replied. "We think she's having a bad reaction to her anxiety pills."  
"Don't worry, let's get her off the plane and get some help." Some other flight attendants came over with a stretcher and wheeled her off the plane into the airport.  
"Why don't you guys go ahead," I said to my family. "I'll stay with Ororo and catch up with you later.  
"Will be alright?" my dad asked.  
"Dad, Dad, Dad. I'm a superhero, remember."  
"Ok, Mr. Modest. Let us know when you find anything out." And they went on to catch their ride.

A nurse came up a little later. "I'm from the ambulance. We should take her quickly."  
"Ok, I'll come along."  
"I'm afraid we don't have enough room. You can meet us at the 1st Nairobi hospital." She started wheeling Ororo away. I was thinking that would stink for others in my situation without any transportation. I didn't think about it long, though, as I knew I could just follow from a distance as Hardware.  
After they left I walked a ways to find a place to change into Hardware and take flight. I didn't want to be seen by the ambulance for fear of giving away my identity, so I flew much higher than normal and used telescopic vision to watch and follow the ambulance.

After awhile the ambulance made a wrong turn and was not heading the direction of the hospital. It was headed out into the middle of nowhere. I got worried and decided to fly closer and check things out. As I approached, I all of a sudden lost control. I had no idea was going on, but I couldn't steer and starter accelerating straight towards the ground! I let out a scream seconds before colliding right into some hard rock, smashing me into a pile of scrap.

Meanwhile, Ororo started to wake up in the ambulance. "Ow, my head."  
"Here, take some of these," the nurse said as she handed her some pills and a glass of water.  
"What happened?" Ororo asked as she swallowed the pills.  
"You passed out after I drugged your water," the nurse replied as she morphed into the flight attendant.  
"WHAT?" screamed Ororo. She then started to pass out again, but not before the flight attendant morphed into Mystique with a wicked grin across her face.

HARDWARE 21: Home Sweet Home Part 2 (by Henry Thrun) 

Professor Charles Xavier was teaching a class at the Xavier Institute when Hank McCoy abruptly entered. "I'm sorry to interrupt, Professor, but we have an urgent situation."  
"Thank you, Henry. Class, you are dismissed early today." Charles followed Hank out of the room. "What's the problem, Beast?"  
"Magneto has contacted us and demands to speak to you." Hank replied as they entered a communications room. Scott Summers was there already and Magneto was visible on a large screen.  
"Good afternoon, Charles," Magneto said with a smirk as Xavier brought his wheelchair up to the monitor.  
"What is so urgent, Eric?" Xavier asked.  
"I believe I have something that belongs to you," Magneto replied as he stepped to the side off-screen. Behind him was Storm strapped to a chair with an IV.  
"STORM!" bellowed Beast.  
"Eric, what have you done?" the Professor shouted.  
"She's quite all right, Charles," Magneto replied, stepping back on screen. "And she'll stay that way if you do as I ask."  
"You've gone too far, Magneto!" Scott yelled at the screen.  
"Try to stay calm, Scott," said the Professor. He turned back to the screen. "What do you want, Eric?" he asked in a very disturbed tone.  
"For starters, I'd like to see that young lad Nightcrawler. Summon him and keep him there where I can see him at all times."  
"All right," Xavier responded through clenched teeth. He closed his eyes and communicated with Kurt Wagner telepathically. "Kurt, please come to the communications room immediately."  
Kurt appeared in a large puff of smoke. "What can I do for you, Profess.." and he trailed off when he saw Magneto on the screen."  
"Just stay put, lad," Magneto said to Kurt. "I just want to make sure you don't try teleporting out of there. As for the rest of you, I have surveillance droids going into place now. If I see anyone leave or if anyone tries ANYTHING, you have seen the last of your precious Storm. Understood?"  
"Understood, Eric," Xavier replied with his teeth clenched even tighter.  
"Excellent! You were always a quick learner, Charles."  
"What are you up to?"  
"Oh, my dear Charles, you'll find out in due time. I'm going to leave now, but I have other monitors set up here to watch the room. Go ahead and trace this transmission if you'd like, but just remember it could cost you an X-Man. Oh, by the way, I am deeply sorry for damaging Storm's metal bodyguard. Next time I suggest giving her something made out of plastic. Good day!" And he walked off camera, leaving only a drugged up Storm visible.  
"Stay here, Kurt," Xavier said as he quickly exited the room. "Beast, Scott, come with me."  
"What are we going to do?" asked Scott. "Was he talking about Nordsworth at the end there?"  
"He must have been," replied Beast. "Apparently he doesn't know of Jake or his powers and just assumed it was some kind of android. I fear the damage he caused could be severe..."  
"I'm going to try to contact him and some other outside help," said the Professor. "Right now he's our best chance of getting Storm back. We can't risk endangering her by leaving the premises."

"That was awesome!" exclaimed Quicksilver as Magneto entered the room. "So now what?"  
"I'm going to contact Toad and tell him he can proceed. The rest of us should get some sleep."  
"What about that robot? Shouldn't I run out and bring it back? It could be useful!"  
"No. Charles could have some tricks planted in it. I think it's best to just leave it. No need to push our luck when we now have the upper hand." And Magneto retired to his room.

HARDWARE 22: Home Sweet Home Part 3 (by Henry Thrun) 

"Jake. Jake, can you hear me?"  
"Uhhh... Professor? Is that you?"  
"Yes, Jake. You were attacked by Magneto..."  
"The... the last thing I remember is flying towards the ground."  
"Where are you now?"  
"I... I don't know. I can't see anything... or hear anything. All of my systems must have got smashed." Though I usually can't feel pain when damage occurs to my Hardware, a vast abrupt system shut down can cause damage to my mind. And when I change back to human form, I can feel pain from my mind being affected.  
"Jake, Magneto has Storm. He's threatened to harm her if any X-Men leave the mansion or anyone interferes. I'm going to try contacting others, but right now you're Storm's only hope. You have to sneak in and save her. And we must hurry. Other members of the Brotherhoods are back here in New York ransacking banks, government buildings..."  
"Ok, let me change back..." I morphed back into human. I was in the back of a police car driving towards Nairobi. They must have found my smashed up body.  
"What the..." exclaimed the officer riding in the passenger's side.  
"I need your help! My friend's been kidnapped." But the officers freaked out. The driver started swerving around, nearly crashing into other traffic. The other officer pulled out his gun and pointed it at me.  
The driver regained his composure and pulled over off the street. "Get out!" the gun toting officer ordered.  
I obeyed and the officers, also getting out of the car, shoved me into the car and started searching me. "Where did you come from?" one of them asked, exasperated.  
"I... I..." I started noticing the pain in my head from the crash and it was starting to get to me. I turned from the car and threw-up on the street. The officers backed away in disgust. I took the opportunity to eject the drive with my damaged Hardware. I quickly pulled a good drive out of my pocket and downloaded a different Hardware body.  
"He did it again!" yelled one of the officers. There were people standing all around us in a big circle. The officers started firing at me.  
"I'm sorry I have to do this, but I don't have much time," I said as I lunged into them, bringing them both down and pinning them. Everyone started running and screaming. I grabbed one of the officer's handcuffs and cuffed him to a nearby gate. The other one I quickly took inside a nearby department store and stole his uniform. "My apologies, but I'm going to need this," I said as I ran out to their police car, started it with the keys I grabbed from the officer, and sped off.  
"Nice work, Jake," the Professor said.  
"You saw all that?"  
"Yes, through your eyes."  
"I didn't know you could do that..."  
"We traced Magneto's transmission earlier and know his location. He doesn't know you're a mutant and isn't expecting you. You'll have to get to Storm without using your Hardware or he'll detect you."  
"Yeah, I learned that the hard way..."

After I got far enough out of town, I changed back to normal, threw up again, and took some motion sickness pills in hopes that would help. After resting for a moment I changed into the officer's uniform. I got back into the car and started driving to the location the Professor gave me.  
I also called my parents to let them know what was going on... and to say hi to my mom's family quick.

Back at the Xavier Institute, Cyclops addressed the Professor. "He doesn't stand a chance. He's basically a human fighting some of the earth's most powerful mutants."  
"He's our only hope right now, Scott," the Professor replied. "I haven't been able to get a hold of anyone else who can help. Those who I have been able to contact are already involved in other dire situations. This is falling in place for Magneto perfectly, but Jake still has his computer mind and I will try to guide him as well as I can... Could you get some food for Kurt please?"  
"Ok, Professor," Scott replied as he left the room.  
"Professor," Beast asked, "I didn't realize either that you could actually see what someone else sees..."  
"Usually, Hank, I can't."  
"I don't understand..."  
"Hank, let's keep this between you and me. Jake has one of the most powerful mutant minds I've ever witnessed. But nobody else knows, not even him."  
"Really? But he's just a morph..."  
"Yes, right now he doesn't have the most _powerful_ mutant powers, and that's why nobody would suspect it. But I believe he has potential, as he grows and develops his powers, to become extremely powerful. If he had telekinetic or telepathic abilities, I think he would be able to surpass Jean and myself. That's why I keep giving him so much attention when he does come here. I won't force anyone to join the X-Men, so I need to make the most out of the time I do have with him. But please, Hank, the less people who know this the better."  
"Ah... Absolutely, Professor..."

HARDWARE 23: Home Sweet Home Part 4 (by Henry Thrun) 

"Jake?"  
"Yes, Professor?"  
"Earlier you said the last thing you remember was heading for the ground. With your powers, shouldn't you even have been able to remember the impact?"  
"Yeah, you're right... Oh man, the crash must have damaged me somehow..."  
"You still know the map of Kenya and can get to Storm, right?"  
"Yeah, I remember all of Africa. I guess I'll have to wait and see what else I forgot..."

I pulled up outside the where Magneto and Mystique were keeping Storm. It was among a group of houses behind a large fence. I drove up in the police car, showed the guard "my" badge, and he let me in.  
I downloaded a new jump drive and just used the visual abilities of the Hardware in it. "Ok, it looks like there are heat signatures for four people, none of them moving. I'm guessing the one in the basement is Storm and the others are probably sleeping."  
"Can you sneak in?" asked the Professor.  
"Sneaking's not my strong suit, Professor. I'm going to go right through the front door." I got out of the car, walked up to the door, and knocked. After a little bit, an elderly woman answered the door.  
"Can I help you?" she asked.  
The Professor warned me, "That's got to be Mystique. Don't turn your back on her for a second."  
"Yes, ma'am," I replied using the accent and tone of the officer I got the uniform from to seem like I was from around there and older than I actually was. "There were some reports of noises coming from this house, perhaps a domestic disturbance. May I look around?"  
"Certainly, officer," she replied as she backed away from the door.  
"Please step back into the room," I asked. After she did I entered and started looking around, keeping an eye on "the old lady" the whole time.  
"Jake, can you cause a distraction?" the Professor asked. All of a sudden my headache started getting worse.  
"You know, Professor," I replied with thought. "I don't think that will be a problem." And I ran to the kitchen sink and threw up, again.  
"Oh my, are you ok?" the old lady asked.  
"I... I need to lie down." I went lied on a sofa. "I'll call for someone else to come pick me up."  
"Let me get you something to settle your stomach," she said as she walked out.  
She went back to Magneto and Quicksilver, who had both been awaken by the whole ordeal. I was able to hear them using my Hardware's audio receptors. "We have to get rid of him!" Quicksilver said.  
"We don't want to draw any more police attention," Magneto replied.  
"I don't understand how anyone could have heard or seen anything," said Mystique.  
"Professor, they're all in the other room. Storm is unattended and they aren't watching the monitor."

"Kurt!" the Professor exclaimed as he entered the room with Cyclops and Beast. "You all have to teleport there now!"  
"To another continent? That's impossible!"  
"I have a mental link with Jake. Let me control you quickly and I can send you right next to him."  
"What? How? You've never done this before."  
"We've never had Jake in position before. We haven't much time!"  
"Ok, Professor," Nightcrawler replied as he grabbed Cyclops and Beast, pulling them close. "I trust you."  
The Professor concentrated and the three X-Men disappeared in a puff of smoke.

They reappeared right next to me. "What?" Magneto screamed as he came running in.  
"Kurt, now!" Shouted Cyclops. Nightcrawler bamfed out, reappeared behind Quicksilver and grabbed him before he could move. Quicksilver stammered over with Nightcrawler holding tight. Beast leapt up to them and clocked Quicksilver in the face.  
Magneto started tearing up appliances with his magnetic powers and threw them at Cyclops and Beast. "Mystique! Go and kill Storm!" Now in her true form, Mystique turned and ran for the basement door. Nightcrawler teleported right in front of her and started wrestling her.  
"I'll keep Magneto busy," I said as I fully morphed into Hardware. "You guys save Storm!"  
"You're a mutant! Mystique must have missed you while preparing for this mission by spying on Storm" exclaimed Magneto. "So it must have been you I crushed into the ground before. You X-Men never learned." And he tried to tear me apart with his magnetic powers.  
"Wrong answer, Mags! You may not know me, but I know you. And I came prepared!" I quickly activated powerful magnets that I installed on this Hardware. "This body can decipher and calculate how you alter magnetic fields," I said as I eased the tension Magneto was placing on me. "And it can counteract them!" I started stopping the debris Magneto had been throwing. We engaged in a struggle, both of us trying to force hunks of metal at each other.  
"NOW! GO!" I yelled at Beast and Cyclops. They were able to dodge debris much easier now that I was holding it back. Mystique was able to knock out Nightcrawler to the side and ran down the stairs, Cyclops and Beast close behind.  
"There is no way you are as powerful as me!" Magneto screamed at me. The house was starting to fall apart around us as we continued to struggle against each other. We both started floating off the floor, each trying to overpower the other. But he was right; I was no match for his power. I couldn't make any offensive moves and used all my might just to divert his attacks. The roof and walls ripped apart around us. We continued to rise higher and higher, yelling as we battled back and forth. Metal was circling all around us as cars and other things were being picked up in a tornado of magnetic force. "I WILL CRUSH YOU!"  
I was using maximum power and Magneto was now able to start ripping pieces off me. Magneto was furiously using all his might against me. "Fine, you win!" I said as I changed back to human. With my magnetic fields instantly vanishing, all the force Magneto was using on everything went out of control as I started falling back down. Metal scrap started colliding into each other and into Magneto, knocking him out. Before I landed I morphed back into my Hardware. With Magneto out and his fields down, I used my magnetic fields to make him, all the junk and I land safely... or at least as safely as I could. I had nowhere near the control that Magneto possesses.

I ran down the stairs of what was left of the house. Nightcrawler and Quicksilver were still out cold. I got down there and Mystique was holding a knife to Storm's neck. "Join your friends over there!" she yelled at me.  
Beast and Cyclops were in the corner with their hands up against the wall. "Do as she says, Jake," Cyclops ordered.  
"Ok," I replied as I walked over by them. "Wait a minute. I'm not an X-Man. I don't have to take orders from you." And I used my magnets to swipe the knife right out of Mystique's hand.  
"No!" shrieked Mystique. I grabbed the knife as it flew to me, deactivated my magnets, and threw it right back. "You missed!" Mystique mocked as she grabbed a piece of glass and held it up to Storm's neck. "Now get in the corner!"  
"Ok, ok." I walked up next to Beast and Cyclops.  
"Now you boys are going to let me go," said Mystique. "And I'll be taking your friend for insurance." She started unlatching Storm.  
"You could have killed Storm!" Cyclops yelled at me.  
"That's impossible," I replied. "I have computer precision aim."  
"Ha!" laughed Mystique as she unlatched Storm's ankles. "You missed this time!"  
"No he didn't," said Storm. Mystique looked up and saw that the knife had gone right through the IV bag that was pumping drugs into Storm. Storm gave her a quick kick right in the face. Mystique started to get up, but Storm brought up a great gust of wind and pulled Mystique up into the sky screaming.  
"Quick, let's grab some more of those IV bags and drug the others before they wake up," I said as I ran to the cabinets and started looking for some.

Everything worked out after that. We took Magneto, Mystique, and Quicksilver into custody. The X-Men back in the states were able to thwart the rest of the Brotherhood and end their rampage. And Storm and I returned to our vacation.  
A couple other X-Men flew over in the Blackbird to pick up Cyclops, Beast, and Nightcrawler. "I hope you'll reconsider joining us," Beast said to me as we were seeing them off.  
"Sorry, my friend," I replied. "I have three more years of college left!"  
"Well, hopefully after that! Nice work, Jake."  
"Thanks, Hank. You too."  
"Beast," Cyclops hollered from the jet as it was getting ready to take off. "Let's go!"  
Beast boarded the Blackbird and it took off. We waved to our friends as they departed and were thankful we'd finally have some time to relax.


End file.
